MAYDAY

FARCEBOOK

ALL OUT!

Six senior Labour staffers quit before new general secretary Jennie Formby starts

Ms Merkel added that: "You may think this is all obvious. But I'm afraid I get the sense some in Britain still have illusions about Brexit."

And escalating the situation further she said the EU should not punish the UK, but that “frankly, Britain is not our top priority at the moment”.

PA

Mr Johnson also accused Germany of blocking a deal on EU citizens

She also said Britain will not retain the same rights and privileges it has now in the EU when it leaves the bloc.

Ms Merkel said while Europe still envisions London as a close partner, it will be an outsider, adding: "All of the 27 members of the European Union and European institutions are agreed upon that."

But in his interview this morning Mr Johnson also claimed Germany had blocked a Government attempt to get an agreement on EU citizens, something they deny.

AP

The German leader told MPs some in Britain 'still have illusions about Brexit'

He said it was Berlin who were blocking an agreement on the rights of around three million EU nationals in the UK and a million Britons who live on the continent before triggering Article 50 to begin exit talks.

"As Theresa May has said, this is a priority for us, we want to guarantee their rights, to give them the maximum possible stability and security," he told the BBC.

"Alas, we made an offer by the way before Christmas that we would do a deal in advance of the negotiations, that was turned down you may recall by Germany, we're left in a position where we have to do a reciprocal deal, and we're fine with that."